SWAMPSCOTT — The Big Blue (1-0) got the better of their rival beating the Magicians (0-2-1) 3-0 at Blocksidge Field on Monday evening. Swampscott, after having to postpone its first two games, finally got to play a competitive match defending home turf and sending the Big Blue faithful home with bragging rights.
Swampscott wasted no time getting onto the scoreboard. Four minutes into the game senior forward, Lucas Bereaud, took a shot from range that zipped past the Marblehead goalie to give the Big Blue an early 1-0 lead.
After the game, Swampscott head coach Adam Bailey praised his forward’s performance.
“He was excellent. You will always get 100% effort from him,” Bailey said. “He does what you ask from him and he gets better every year.”
Swampscott dominated the early part of the game with plenty of shots and dangerous counterattacks. With 26 minutes remaining in the first half, senior midfielder John Fredrickson won the ball back in the offensive third before smashing in a goal from over 25 yards out to double Swampscott’s lead.
“In the offensive third, you teach the guys to be aggressive and get after it. If the shot is there, your teammates want you to shoot,” Bailey said. “If you’re in the offensive third you have the green light.”
Bailey was quick to applaud the performance of Fredrickson who was everywhere in the midfield.
“He’s 100% all the time. It’s great to have him out there,” Bailey said. “He controls the flow of play and he is really adapting to the way we want to play and being a leader out there.”
Being down 2-0 at halftime, Marblehead head coach Elmer Magana was not pleased with how his team started.
“We came out really flat. We let Swampscott take over the game,” Magana said. “The few opportunities they got in the beginning they put away.”
In the second half, the Magicians came out strong. Marblehead put pressure on Swampscott’s defense forcing their goalie, Charlie Ulberg to make saves.
Two minutes into the second half, the Magicians had a great chance of getting back into the game. Riley Schmitt fired a shot low into the bottom corner but it hit the inside of the post and fell to sophomore Luke Miller who fired a shot that hit the other post to deny Marblehead a goal.
“We hit the post twice. If one of those went in, I think the game would have swung in our favor,” Magana said. “It can be a cruel game sometimes. They put away their chances and we didn’t.”
It is said that being two goals up in soccer is the most dangerous lead, but Swampscott stuck to its game plan and remained calm, something that Bailey was proud of.
“The key was to remain patient [with a two-goal lead],” Bailey said. “They’re high school students, so it’s easy to lose focus. There are several distractions. I’m proud they were able to conquer the mental part of the game and just keep focused on what we worked on in practice.”
The patience paid off as Swampscott scored its third goal through Bereaud, who was the beneficiary of a clearance that ricocheted off of his shoulder into the net to secure his brace with 23 minutes to go in the game.
Despite the loss, Magana was happy with how his subs performed and gave everything they had.
“Our subs were a positive for us today,” Magana said. “They stepped up to the plate and they fought to create and score goals. I’m happy that I have reliable subs.”
After the game, Bailey praised Marblehead and his squad.
“Marblehead is a very good team. They’re very aggressive and physical. They’re a good team that usually gives us trouble,” Bailey said. “The focus was to play with patience and move the ball and we did that today. I have to give it to my guys, they stuck to the game plan and we looked good.”
Swampscott’s next game is on Wednesday when they travel to Gloucester for a 4:30 p.m. match, while Marblehead on the same day will travel to Danvers for a 6:30 p.m. game.
